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K. M. Shen

Publications and source records attributed to K. M. Shen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Resonant elastic soft x-ray scattering in oxygen-ordered YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+delta}

Static charge-density wave (CDW) and spin-density wave (SDW) order has been convincingly observed in La-based cuprates for some time. However, more recently it has been suggested by quantum oscillation, transport and thermodynamic measurements that density wave order is generic to underdoped cuprates and plays a significant role in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+delta} (YBCO). We use resonant soft x-ray scattering at the Cu L and O K edges to search for evidence of density wave order in Ortho-II and Ortho-VIII oxygen-ordered YBCO. We report a null result -- no evidence for static CDW order -- in both Ortho-II and Ortho-VIII ordered YBCO. While this does not rule out static CDW order in the CuO_2 planes of YBCO, these measurements place limits on the parameter space (temperature, magnetic field, scattering vector) in which static CDW order may exist. In addition, we present a detailed analysis of the energy and polarization dependence of the Ortho-II superstructure Bragg reflection [0.5 0 0] at the Cu L edge. The intensity of this peak, which is due to the valence modulations of Cu in the chain layer, is compared with calculations using atomic scattering form factors deduced from x-ray absorption measurements. The calculated energy and polarization dependence of the scattering intensity is shown to agree very well with the measurement, validating the approach and providing a framework for analyzing future resonant soft x-ray scattering measurements.

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An in-vacuum diffractometer for resonant elastic soft x-ray scattering

We describe the design, construction and performance of a 4-circle in-vacuum diffractometer for resonant elastic soft x-ray scattering and reflectivity. The diffractometer, installed on the REIXS beamline at the Canadian Light Source, includes 9 in-vacuum motions driven by in-vacuum stepper motors and operates in ultra-high vacuum at base pressure of 2 x10^-10 Torr. Cooling to a base temperature of 18 K is provided with a closed-cycle cryostat. The diffractometer includes a choice of 3 photon detectors: a photodiode, a channeltron and a 2D sensitive channelplate detector. Along with variable slit and filter options, these detectors are suitable for studying a wide range of phenomena having both weak and strong diffraction signals. Example measurements of diffraction and reflectivity in Nd-doped (La,Sr)_2CuO_4 and thin film (Ga,Mn)As are shown.

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Structural origin of apparent Fermi surface pockets in angle-resolved photoemission of Bi$_2$Sr$_{2-x}$La$_x$CuO$_{6+δ}$

We observe apparent hole pockets in the Fermi surfaces of single-layer Bi-based cuprate superconductors from angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES). From detailed low-energy electron diffraction measurements and an analysis of the ARPES polarization-dependence, we show that these pockets are not intrinsic, but arise from multiple overlapping superstructure replicas of the main and shadow bands. We further demonstrate that the hole pockets reported recently from ARPES [Meng et al, Nature 462, 335 (2009)] have a similar structural origin, and are inconsistent with an intrinsic hole pocket associated with the electronic structure of a doped CuO$_2$ plane. The nature of the Fermi surface topology in the enigmatic pseudogap phase therefore remains an open question.

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Evolution of the electronic structure from the insulator to the superconductor in Bi2Sr2-xLax(Ca,Y)Cu2O8+d

La-doped and Y-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d (Bi2212) compounds Bi2Sr2-xLax(Ca,Y)Cu2O8+d, which range from the insulator to the deeply underdoped superconductor, have been studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We have observed that the lower Hubbard band (LHB) of the parent insulator is gradually shifted upward with doping without significantly changing the band dispersions, which implies a downward shift of the chemical potential with hole doping. This behaviour is analogous to Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6+d (Bi2201) and Ca2-xNaxCuO2Cl2 (Na-CCOC) but is different from La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO), where the LHB stays well below the chemical potential and does not move while its intensity quickly diminishes in the underdoped region.

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Measurement of x-ray absorption spectra of overdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors: Inapplicability of the single-band Hubbard model

X-ray absorption spectra on the overdoped high-temperature superconductors Tl_2Ba_2CuO_{6+delta} (Tl-2201) and La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_{4+delta} (LSCO) reveal a striking departure in the electronic structure from that of the underdoped regime. The upper Hubbard band, identified with strong correlation effects, is not observed on the oxygen K edge, while the lowest-energy prepeak gains less intensity than expected above p ~ 0.21. This suggests a breakdown of the Zhang-Rice singlet approximation and a loss of correlation effects or a significant shift in the most fundamental parameters of the system, rendering single-band Hubbard models inapplicable. Such fundamental changes suggest that the overdoped regime may offer a distinct route to understanding in the cuprates.

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Doping dependent charge transfer gap and realistic electronic model of n-type cuprate superconductors

Based on the analysis of the measurement data of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and optics, we show that the charge transfer gap is significantly smaller than the optical one and is reduced by doping in electron doped cuprate superconductors. This leads to a strong charge fluctuation between the Zhang-Rice singlet and the upper Hubbard bands. The basic model for describing this system is a hybridized two-band $t$-$J$ model. In the symmetric limit where the corresponding intra- and inter-band hopping integrals are equal to each other, this two-band model is equivalent to the Hubbard model with an antiferromagnetic exchange interaction (i.e. the $t$-$U$-$J$ model). The mean-field result of the $t$-$U$-$J$ model gives a good account for the doping evolution of the Fermi surface and the staggered magnetization.

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Angle-resolved photoemission studies of lattice polaron formation in the cuprate Ca2CuO2Cl2

To elucidate the nature of the single-particle excitations in the undoped parent cuprates, we have performed a detailed study of Ca2CuO2Cl2 using photoemission spectroscopy. The photoemission lineshapes of the lower Hubbard band are found to be well-described by a polaron model. By comparing the lineshape and temperature dependence of the lower Hubbard band with additional O 2p and Ca 3p states, we conclude that the dominant broadening mechanism arises from the interaction between the photohole and the lattice. The strength of this interaction was observed to be strongly anisotropic and may have important implications for the momentum dependence of the first doped hole states.

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Study of HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$ by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

We present the first angle-resolved photoemission measurement on the single-layer Hg-based cuprate, HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$ (Hg1201). A quasi-particle peak in the spectrum and a kink in the band dispersion around the diagonal of the Brillouin zone are observed, whereas no structure is detected near the Brillouin zone boundary. To search for a material-dependent trend among hole-doped cuprates, including Hg1201, we use a tight-binding model to fit their Fermi surfaces. We find a positive correlation between the $T_{c,\mathrm{max}}$ and $t'/t$, consistent with theoretical predictions.

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Fermi surface and quasiparticle excitations of Sr$_{2}$RhO$_{4}$

The electronic structure of the layered 4$d$ transition metal oxide Sr$_{2}$RhO$_{4}$ is investigated by angle resolved photoemission. We find well-defined quasiparticle excitations with a highly anisotropic dispersion, suggesting a quasi-two-dimensional Fermi liquid like ground state. Markedly different from the isostructural Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$, only two bands with dominant Rh 4$d_{xz,zy}$ character contribute to the Fermi surface. A quantitative analysis of the photoemission quasiparticle band structure is in excellent agreement with bulk data. In contrast, it is found that state-of-the-art density functional calculations in the local density approximation differ significantly from the experimental findings.

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Doping dependence of the coupling of electrons to bosonic modes in the single-layer high-temperature Bi2Sr2CuO6 superconductor

A recent highlight in the study of high-Tc superconductors is the observation of band renormalization / self-energy effects on the quasiparticles. This is seen in the form of kinks in the quasiparticle dispersions as measured by photoemission and interpreted as signatures of collective bosonic modes coupling to the electrons. Here we compare for the first time the self-energies in an optimally doped and strongly overdoped, non-superconducting single-layer Bi-cuprate (Bi2Sr2CuO6). Besides the appearance of a strong overall weakening, we also find that weight of the self-energy in the overdoped system shifts to higher energies. We present evidence that this is related to a change in the coupling to c-axis phonons due to the rapid change of the c-axis screening in this doping range.

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Anomalous high energy dispersion in photoemission spectra from insulating cuprates

Angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopic measurements have been performed on an insulating cuprate Ca_2CuO_2Cl_2. High resolution data taken along the Γto (pi,pi) cut show an additional dispersive feature that merges with the known dispersion of the lowest binding energy feature, which follows the usual strongly renormalized dispersion of ~0.35 eV. This higher energy part reveals a dispersion that is very close to the unrenormalized band predicted by band theory. A transfer of spectral weight from the low energy feature to the high energy feature is observed as the Γpoint is approached. By comparing with theoretical calculations the high energy feature observed here demonstrates that the incoherent portion of the spectral function has significant structure in momentum space due to the presence of various energy scales.

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Quantitative analysis of Sr2RuO4 ARPES spectra: Many-body interactions in a model Fermi liquid

ARPES spectra hold a wealth of information about the many-body interactions in a correlated material. However, the quantitative analysis of ARPES spectra to extract the various coupling parameters in a consistent manner is extremely challenging, even for a model Fermi liquid system. We propose a fitting procedure which allows quantitative access to the intrinsic lineshape, deconvolved of energy and momentum resolution effects, of the correlated 2-dimensional material Sr2RuO4. For the first time in correlated 2-dimensional materials, we find an ARPES linewidth that is narrower than its binding energy, a key property of quasiparticles within Fermi liquid theory. We also find that when the electron-electron scattering component is separated from the electron-phonon and impurity scattering terms it decreases with a functional form compatible with Fermi liquid theory as the Fermi energy is approached. In combination with the previously determined Fermi surface, these results give the first complete picture of a Fermi liquid system via ARPES. Furthermore, we show that the magnitude of the extracted imaginary part of the self-energy is in remarkable agreement with DC transport measurements.

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Missing Quasiparticles and the Chemical Potential Puzzle in the Doping Evolution of the Cuprate Superconductors

The evolution of Ca$_{2-x}$Na$_{x}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$ from Mott insulator to superconductor was studied using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. By measuring both the excitations near the Fermi energy as well as non-bonding states, we tracked the doping dependence of the electronic structure and the chemical potential with unprecedented precision. Our work reveals failures in the conventional quasiparticle theory, including the broad lineshapes of the insulator and the apparently paradoxical shift of the chemical potential within the Mott gap. To resolve this, we develop a model where the quasiparticle is vanishingly small at half filling and grows upon doping, allowing us to unify properties such as the dispersion and Fermi wavevector with the behavior of the chemical potential.

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Effect of chemical inhomogeneity in the bismuth-based copper oxide superconductors

We examine the effect on the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of chemical inhomogeneities in Bi2201 and Bi2212 single crystals. Cation disorder at the Sr crystallographic site is inherent in these materials and strongly affects the value of Tc. Partial substitution of Sr by Ln (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, and Bi) in Bi_{2}Sr_{1.6}Ln_{0.4}CuO_{6} results in a monotonic decrease of Tc with increasing ionic radius mismatch. By minimizing Sr site disorder at the expense of Ca site disorder, we demonstrate that the Tc of Bi2212 can be increased to 96 K. Based on these results we discuss the effects of chemical inhomogeneity in other bulk high-temperature superconductors.

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Fully Gapped Single-Particle Excitations in the Lightly Doped Cuprates

The low-energy excitations of the lightly doped cuprates were studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. A finite gap was measured over the entire Brillouin zone, including along the d_{x^2 - y^2} nodal line. This effect was observed to be generic to the normal states of numerous cuprates, including hole-doped La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} and Ca_{2-x}Na_{x}CuO_{2}Cl_{2} and electron-doped Nd_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4}. In all compounds, the gap appears to close with increasing carrier doping. We consider various scenarios to explain our results, including the possible effects of chemical disorder, electronic inhomogeneity, and a competing phase.

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An angle-resolved photoemission spectral function analysis of the electron doped cuprate Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4

Using methods made possible by recent advances in photoemission technology, we perform an indepth line-shape analysis of the angle-resolved photoemission spectra of the electron doped (n-type) cuprate superconductor Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4. Unlike for the p-type materials, we only observe weak mass renormalizations near 50-70 meV. This may be indicative of smaller electron-phonon coupling or due to the masking effects of other interactions that make the electron-phonon coupling harder to detect. This latter scenario may suggest limitations of the spectral function analysis in extracting electronic self-energies when some of the interactions are highly momentum dependent.

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